Forgiven
by Venthorn
Summary: One foot in the grave, Lucy appears at the door of the Kaede House as they sit down for a somber dinner. A brief continuation of the events of the anime, to give it a longer and more fulfilling ending.


_That's weird…wasn't that clock broken?_ Kouta thought as he made his way to the door. Shrugging it off, he slid the door open and almost fell over in shock.

"Lucy!" he shouted. She looked quite the sight. Blood ran down her head where a horn once was stood. Countless cuts ran across her arms and legs. Her clothes were almost entirely shredded.

"Kouta…" she whispered, voice weak, before stumbling forward towards the ground.

"Lucy!" he exclaimed again and rushed forth to catch her. He was almost knocked over from the attempt; she was dead weight. "Stay with me Lucy, please… Yuka! Help!" he shouted back into the house.

"What's going on out there?" Kouta heard Yuka shout in reply, followed by the crashing sound of multiple sets of feet running towards the door. In short order Yuka's face appeared around the corner, followed by Mayu and finally the ever-graceful Nana, who promptly tripped over herself and fell over.

"Nyu?" Yuka gasped. "Kouta, what's going on?"

"It's Lucy. Her name is Lucy." Kouta said. "I'll…I'll explain it later. Right now, she's really hurt! Get her to the bath! She needs medical attention!"

No sooner than spoken, Nana lifted the unconscious Lucy with her vectors and levitated her up the stairs towards the path. "Don't worry, Otasan!" Nana said with her characteristic cheer. "I've got Aunt Lucy!"

Yuka stood there in shock at the display, hand held over her gaping mouth. "Wha...what…"

"Yuka!" Kouta exclaimed, grabbing her hand. "Yuka! Listen to me. We'll explain everything later. I promise! But right now, we have to help Lucy! Okay? I'll explain. But Lucy needs our help!"

Yuka looked down to where their hands were joined and blushed. "O…Okay. Kouta." She shook her head, as if trying to physically shake off the shock of the situation. "You have a lot of explaining to do. But you're right. Let's go help Ny…Lucy."

* * *

Kouta paced restlessly up and down the hallway. He and Yuka had patched up Lucy to the best of their limited ability. Lucy was now resting in his room. He and Yuka had sat down with Nana at the table and she explained to Yuka just what was going on. Kouta felt his heart shatter all over again when she described the years of imprisonment and torture that they had been through. Yuka's gentle heart took it badly and she pulled in a confused Mayu to hug while she softly cried. Mayu wasn't sure what was going on but knew that something had upset her beloved adopted mother, so she tried to comfort Yuka to the best of her ability.

Something else bothered Kouta, though. He loved Lucy, there was no use in denying it. From that serendipitous meeting when they were children, to the innocent and gleeful child-like persona, to the deadly capable woman who had returned to them. He loved her. But his father, and his sister…he knew, academically, that it wasn't really her fault. It was the fault of all the horrific abuse she had lived through. But still…what would his father and sister think?

"Otasan wants you to be happy! Imoutosan wants you to be happy!" Nana's sing-song voice cut through his thoughts.

"What?" Kouta said, his train of thought derailed.

"I said," Nana said, glaring at him in mock anger. "Papa-san always wanted me to be happy! But now I have a new papa-san! And mama-san! And Aunt Lucy!" She looked around and dropped her voice. "But Aunt Lucy isn't happy! Make her happy, papa-san!" she begged.

Kouta laughed. The universe had given him the answer he needed, in the form of the obliviously insightful Nana. He picked her up and swung her around.

"Whee! Papa-san makes me happy!" She laughed. "Now go make Aunt Lucy happy!"

"What's with all the noise?" Yuka said, as her head poked around the corner. "You're going to wake Ny...Lucy."

Kouta almost dropped Nana in surprise, who squawked indignantly. He had forgotten all about her. "Yuka, I-"

"Don't." Yuka cut him off. "Just listen. I...I know how you feel about her. I saw the way you looked at her, when we were patching her up. I know how she feels about you. So..." Yuka wiped away a tear that threatened to run down her cheek. "Go to her. They'll be plenty of time for us to talk later. But right now, she needs you. So go to her. Do what Nana said. Make her happy."

Kouta was stunned into silence. He could do nothing but walk forward and kiss Yuka on the cheek, causing her to blush. Then, resolve in his heart, he set off to his room, where Lucy was resting. The universe had given him his answer, and he knew what he needed to do.

* * *

Lucy groaned as she regained consciousness. All the cuts, scrapes, and holes from the bullets hurt like hell. _Still_ , she thought, _I'll live_. She had suffered far worse in torture at the facility. She healed fast, something about her unique diclonius gene. In a few days all the marks of battle would be gone. _Hmm_ she idly thought. _Wonder if I could somehow use that to help Nana_. She brushed it aside. She'd look into it later. Right now, pause and take stock.

They had dressed her in one of Yuki's robes and covered her in a blanket. Kouta's, it looked like. Her head was in the most luxuriously shaped pillow. Gauze seemed to cover every inch of her arms and legs and she felt more on her head. _Wait, it just moved…that's not gauze._ It was…a hand? Lucy jerked in surprise, and felt the hand move. She squinted to get a better look and couldn't help her cheeks turn the color of her hair. Her head was in Kouta's lap. He was leaning against a cushion, eyes closed, holding her protectively to him. She felt her heart skip a beat.

"Ko…Kouta?" she asked, uncharacteristically timid.

"Lucy?" he whispered. Suddenly, wide awake. "Lucy! You're up! Are you okay? Do you want me to move? I felt like you needed to be held. I…"

"Kouta…it's okay." Lucy whispered. "I like it." She smiled and nuzzled deeper into his lap.

Now it was Kouta's turn to blush. "Lucy, listen to me. I've been thinking. Nonstop since you came back. Maybe it's not the right time, but I have to say it! I was wrong about before. When I told you I couldn't forgive you, I was wrong. I forgive you. For everything." He suddenly felt the air rush out of him and found himself pushed backwards. Lucy had swiftly moved from her perch by his lap to on top of him, and was kissing him!

"You" kiss "have no" kiss "idea" kiss "just how long" kiss "I've wanted to hear that." Kiss. "Needed to hear that." Kiss. Then she suddenly stopped, and looked shy. "Sorry. You probably…you can't want me after all of this. I've already ruined your life once. I don't want to ruin it again, yours and Yuka's and mmph!" She was silenced by Kouta's kiss.

"Don't talk like that!" he said. "Ever. Listen to me, Lucy. I. Love. You."

"You…love me?" Lucy asked in a small voice. She couldn't believe it. Could she? No one had ever loved her before. That tiny spark of hope that Kouta had given her so long ago, that she always held, always protected, so close to her heart. Could it really be true? "Say it again!"

"I love you." He repeated.

The spark grew brighter. "Again!"

"I love you, Lucy."

A small flame, licking at the kindling. "Again!"

"I love you!"

"Again! Again! Again!" They repeated the dance of words as the flame grew into a comfortable glow, into a campfire, into a roaring and raging bonfire that she somehow knew would never die out. "Again!"

"Lucy, I love-" Kouta was silenced as Lucy slammed her mouth on his, kissing him desperately. Her fingers and vectors clawed at his clothes as she pushed herself atop of him.

There was so much she wanted to say to him as they urgently, desperately made love. She wanted to tell him how she would always be there for him. She wanted to tell him how she would always defend him, protect him, and shield him from the evils in the world. She wanted to tell him how he could do anything he wanted to her, anywhere, any time. Most of all, she wanted to tell him that she loved him and he would be above all others for the rest of her days. All that would come out though, all that she could say, was his name. Over and over again. Somehow, she knew, it was enough. He understood. She would say those things to him later, the next time. _Next time_ , she thought with a smile, as she lay dazed and happy against his side.

Still there was one thought that intruded, most unwelcome. "I don't deserve this. I don't deserve-"

"Stop." Kouta cut her off. "Deserve has nothing to do with it. All that matters – the **only** thing that matters – is that I love you. Understand?"

"I understand," she said, uncharacteristically meekly. She had been very uncharacteristically meek today, she thought. Being with Kouta made her that way.

But Kouta wasn't done. "Lucy," he said, as he gathered her in his arms, "from now on we are together. You sleep here, with me, every night. I am yours, and you are mine, for the rest of our days. **That** is what we deserve."

Lucy let her body do the talking as she snuggled close and lay her head on his chest, falling asleep to the lull of his heartbeat and warmed by the glow in her heart and soul that she never before believed existed. As she closed her eyes and drifted off, she felt things that she never before experienced: peace, family, and contentment.


End file.
